CC Madhya 19.166

Giriraj Swami: Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā Chapter Nineteen: “Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.”

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

TEXT 166

‘śuddha-bhakti’ haite haya ‘premā’ utpanna
ataeva śuddha-bhaktira kahiye ‘lakṣaṇa’

TRANSLATION

“When one is situated in pure devotional service, he develops love of Godhead; therefore let me describe some of the symptoms of pure devotional service.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada:

In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.55) it is said, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ. One cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead in truth unless he takes to devotional service.

COMMENT

As we discussed earlier, bhakti comes from bhakti. So here, Caitanya-caritāmṛta states that from śuddha-bhakti comes prema-bhakti. śuddha-bhakti can be realized in three stages- In sādhana-bhakti, bhāva-bhakti, and prema-bhakti. But all come in same category of śuddha-bhakti, pure devotional service. But what is the definition of pure devotional service that we find stated in the next verse. This verse is very important so we shall repeat the words in Sanskrit.

TEXT 167

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

TRANSLATION

“ ‘When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favorably, as Kṛṣṇa desires.’

COMMENT

So every definition in Sanskrit has two parts. One is called the svarupa lakshana primary characteristic and other is called tatsatha lakshana or marginal characteristic. Here in the definition of pure devotional service, we find the same. So, we will begin with the principal characteristics. Aṇu-śīlanaṁ means cultivation; in other words, active service. śīlanaṁ itself means cultivation and aṇu mean continuous. For one engaged in pure devotional service, there is no break or interruption. Aṇu also means ‘to follow.’ So, one must engage in devotional service following the instruction of Krishna which are received through sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, statements of sadhu, shastra, and guru. The cultivation may be performed with the body, with the mind, or with the words. With the mind which always think how to please Krishna, how to spread Krishna conscious movement. Or we can think pastimes of Krishna. How Krishna spoke Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna at Kurukshetra, or how Krishna enjoys pastimes with the devotees in Vrindavan. This is called mental culture of Krishna consciousness. Similarly, one can serve Krishna with the senses of the body, as we engage in deity worship with the senses of the body. And one can serve Krishna with words by chanting Hare Krishna and by preaching Bhagavad-gītā. So, cultivation involves all of the faculties of the living entity; mental, bodily, and vocal. The cultivation may include positive action as well as negative restriction. For example, positive action includes chant Hare Krishna and negative prohibition means ‘Don’t commit offenses.’

So, both chanting Hare Krishna and avoiding various offenses are included in cultivation of Krishna consciousness. Sādhana-bhakti is executed by mind, by body and words. But after sādhana-bhakti comes bhāva-bhakti. In bhāva-bhakti one attains śuddha-sattva pure goodness above the modes of material nature. And within the spiritual body, one experiences various ecstasies. For example, one devotee of Lord Caitanya named Murari Gupta was the physician of the Mohammedan king. Once he was sitting on an elevated platform with the king and one of the servants of the king begins to fan the king with peacock feather. As soon as Murari Gupta saw the peacock feather, he began to remember Krishna and the pastimes of Krishna, and he fainted and fell from the platform. The king was very concerned whether he was harmed or not and the king asked what happened. He said that, “I have disease and sometimes I faint.” So, was the fainting of Murari Gupta and falling from platform in the category of devotional service? So, although Murari Gupta didn’t do any service with the body or the mind or words but within the spiritual body inside the material body he was experiencing different ecstasies. And the experience of different ecstasies within the spiritual body which include especially remembrance of Krishna, are also included in the category of pure devotional service.

Once when the devotees were traveling with Srila Prabhupada in India, and they came to some new place, one of the devotees asked Srila Prabhupada, what will be our business here? And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Our business here will be to cry for Krishna.” So, crying for Krishna in ecstasy in the mood of separation is devotional service, high quality of devotional service. Then Krishna, what is the meaning of Krishna? Of course, Krishna means the Supreme Personality of God. But does it mean if someone is engaged in the service of Rama or in the service of Narayana that he is not engaged in pure devotional service? Yes, he is engaged in devotional service because here Krishna doesn’t only mean the original form of Krishna, but it includes expansion and incarnations of Krishna as well as pure devotees. And ānukūlyena means favorable; favorable means the devotee should please Krishna by devotional service. We should serve Krishna as Krishna wants to be served. Just like Krishna says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, you should offer me with devotion a leaf a fruit a flower or some water. So, we should offer Krishna the things that Krishna wants then the service is favorable.

One very rich man in Bombay, who is also supposed to be very pious, was once telling me about his wonderful devotion and he pulled out of his pocket one beautiful silver box. He opened the box and showed me that it was full of tulasi leaves. Then he told me that he does not even drink tea without adding tulasi leaves. So, he does not know how to serve Krishna as Krishna wants to be served. Certainly, every food that we offer to Krishna should be accompanied by tulasi leaves, but we cannot offer tea to Krishna. We should serve Krishna favorably as Krishna wants to be served, especially according to the direction of scriptures: sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya. Now, here some questions may arise. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, when Krishna fought with various demons, He experienced great pleasure. He experienced vīrya-rasa which means the mellow of chivalry. So, when Kaṁsa, Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla, Dantavakra, and eighteen other demons came to fight with Krishna and kill Krishna, were they engaged in devotional service? Did they engage in favorable devotional service? No. Why? Krishna was pleased, why not?

Devotee: Because their attitude was not favorable.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, because their attitude was not favorable. Our attitude should be that we want to please Krishna, and actually, Krishna should be pleased by our service. Both should be there: that we want to please Krishna and actually Krishna is pleased. This is the primary characteristic of devotional service; it is continuous cultivation favorable to Krishna’s pleasure. A devotee must constantly serve Krishna in a favorable way, constantly, according to Krishna’s desire. Then the secondary characteristics, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ. One should be without any other desire except the desire to serve Krishna. Actually, anyābhilāṣa means other desires. But the suffix ita has some significance because uttam-bhakti can be practiced from the stage of sādhana-bhakti, and in the stage of sādhana-bhakti we cannot say that we are absolutely free from other desires. So, anyābhilāṣitā means that we should not have other desires intentionally or deliberately. We should not deliberately come to devotional service with the idea of enjoying sense gratification or getting liberation or enjoying mystic perfection or anything else. We have to come up with the idea that we want to serve Krishna as Krishna wants to be served. In normal conditions, we should have no other desire except to serve Krishna. But in extreme circumstances, for example, if someone comes to kill us or if we are about to drown, we may pray to Krishna, “Oh Krishna, save me, save me.”

Actually, we should not ask Krishna for the protection of the body. We should not engage in devotional service for the protection of the body. But in some extreme situation, when we are about to die, in complete helplessness, we may pray to Krishna for protection. But it is not against the principle of pure devotional service, because under normal circumstances the devotee does not pray to Krishna for anything material; for the protection of the body or anything. So, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ means that we should not be habituated to any other desire except devotional service when we are in normal consciousness under normal circumstances. The intention of engaging in devotional service, for some reason other than to please Krishna, is anyābhilāṣitā. Such other desires should become śūnyaṁ. They should become nil. Now, suppose we are engaging in devotional service and we want to get kṛṣṇa-prema. Does that mean we have some other desire? Are we violating the principles of pure devotional service?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:37:40]

Giriraj Swami: We should have no other desire except for Bhakti. So, to desire prema-bhakti is not against the principle of Uttama-bhakti. In fact, from sādhana-bhakti we should achieve bhāva-bhakti and from bhāva-bhakti we should achieve prema-bhakti. If we don’t achieve bhāva and prema, then our sadhana is not real sādhana-bhakti. So, bhakti comes from bhakti, prema-bhakti comes from sādhana-bhakti. Praying for prema-bhakti or praying for prema-bhakti means desiring to serve Krishna better. So, it is not anyābhilāṣitā, it is the desire for devotional service. Then, jnana means not all knowledge, but knowledge which covers bhakti, like the knowledge of the impersonalists. And karma does not mean all activities, but it means fruitive activities for material enjoyment. Otherwise, deity worship is also karma, but it is not against Bhakti if it is done for the pleasure of Krishna. Similarly, getting knowledge from Bhagavad-gītā is also jnana, but it is not against the principle of bhakti because the result is that one can serve Krishna better. Now, there are various ritualistic ceremonies in the category of karma. When the father dies, the son carries out ritual ceremonies so that the father can be elevated materially. If one’s father dies, should he do the ceremony or is it against the pure devotional service?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:42:59]

Giriraj Swami: But what if the family members expect that you should do the ritualistic ceremony, they won’t be satisfied if you just do kirtan. So, we perform the ritualistic ceremonies or not?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:43:50]

Giriraj Swami: She says we can do it if we do it for the sake of what the others will think. What he said is correct because there is consideration of popular sentiment. We don’t want people to criticize the Vaishnavas. So, to avoid criticism, we may engage in some ritualistic activity or something that resembles fruitive activity. In Bombay, one person asked Sri Prabhupada that if a devotee sees a man drowning in the river, should he save him? Srila Prabhupada said that we have nothing to do with people’s karma. He is drowning because of his karma. Stopping him from drowning or saving him is material welfare, and we have nothing to do with material welfare. But then Srila Prabhupada said, if we don’t save him, people will criticize, that he was a devotee, he could have save him, but he didn’t save him. Srila Prabhupada said that in consideration of loka-vichar, or public sentiment, we may do something that resembles some material duty or material welfare work. But we should know that bhakti is independent. If Someone thinks that, if I don’t do some ritual ceremony or some material welfare work, then my bhakti will be hampered, that covers the actual nature of bhakti. Or if he thinks that, by doing some ritualistic activity or by doing some good deeds, I can progress more in bhakti, that also covers natural nature of Bhakti.

Bhakti cannot be helped by the performance of karma or jnana or anything. And bhakti cannot be hampered by the non-performance of karma or jnana or anything. But only with the idea that they should not criticize the devotees. Not with the idea that my bhakti will be helped by doing pious activities or my bhakti will be hampered by neglecting material duties. So, jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam means that bhakti should not be covered by jnana or karma or anything; ādy means “and so on.” So, ādyincludes artificial renunciation, aṣṭāṅga-yoga, Sāṅkhya philosophy, and anything else. Now we come to the purport.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada:

This verse is also found in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11). As we can understand from the Bhagavad-gītā (9.34 and 18.65), the Supreme Personality of Godhead wants everyone to think of Him always (man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ). 

COMMENT

So how does this sentence support the basic definition of bhakti? That we should always think of Krishna. It comes in cultivation with the mind; man-manā means the mind should be engaged in the thoughts of Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

 Everyone should become His devotee, not the devotee of a demigod.

COMMENT

Where does this fit in the definition? Krishna, devotional service should be rendered to Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

Everyone should engage in His devotional service, including arcana (Deity worship) in the temple. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru. Everyone should offer obeisances, from moment to moment, to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

So where does worshipping the deity and offering obeisances to the Lord come in the definition? Cultivation with the body.

PURPORT (continued)

These are the desires of the Supreme Lord, and one who fulfills His desires favorably is actually a pure devotee. Kṛṣṇa wants everyone to surrender unto Him, and devotional service means preaching this gospel all over the world. The Lord says openly in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.69), na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ: One who preaches the gospel of the Bhagavad-gītā for the benefit of all is most dear to Kṛṣṇa. The Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by the Lord so that human society can be perfectly organized from all angles of vision — politically, socially, economically, philosophically, and religiously. From any point of view, human society can be reformed by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement; therefore one who spreads this philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the benefit of all conditioned souls in the universe is perfect in pure devotional service.

COMMENT

So, we should serve Krishna as Krishna wants to be served. And in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says that the best service is to preach the message of the Bhagavad-gītā. The criterion is that a devotee must know what Krishna wants him to do. How do we know what Krishna wants us to do?

Devotee: By following instruction in Bhagavad-gītā.

Giriraj Swami: But there are so many instructions in Bhagavad-gītā. How do we know which instructions Krishna wants us to follow? In one place, Bhagavad-gītā says that by doing one’s duty, one can attain perfection. And in another place, Krishna says, “Give up all duties and just surrender to Me.” So, there are so many instructions in the scripture, and many of the instructions seem to contradict each other. So how do we know which instructions to follow?

Devotee: Asking to the spiritual master.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

PURPORT (continued)

The criterion is that a devotee must know what Kṛṣṇa wants him to do. This understanding can be achieved through the medium of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī advises, ādau gurv-āśrayam. One who is serious in wanting to render pure devotional service to the Lord must take shelter of a spiritual master who comes in the disciplic succession from Kṛṣṇa. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ. Without accepting a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, one cannot find out the real purpose of devotional service. Therefore one has to accept the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and agree to be directed by him. The first business of a pure devotee is to satisfy his spiritual master, whose only business is to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And if one can satisfy the spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa is automatically satisfied — yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. This is the success of devotional service. This is the meaning of the word ānukūlyena — that is, favorable devotional service to the Lord. A pure devotee has no plans other than those for the Lord’s service. He is not interested in attaining success in mundane activities. He simply wants success in the progress of devotional service. For a devotee, there cannot be worship of others or demigod worship. A pure devotee does not engage himself in such pseudo devotional service. He is interested only in satisfying Kṛṣṇa. If one lives only for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, it does not matter whether he belongs to this order of life or that order of life. One’s only business should be to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. This process is completely manifest in the activities of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It has been actually proved that the entire world can accept devotional service without failure. One simply has to follow the instructions of the representative of Kṛṣṇa.

TEXT 168

anya-vāñchā, anya-pūjā chāḍi’ ‘jñāna’, ‘karma’
ānukūlye sarvendriye kṛṣṇānuśīlana

TRANSLATION

“A pure devotee must not cherish any desire other than to serve Kṛṣṇa. He should not offer worship to the demigods or to mundane personalities. He should not cultivate artificial knowledge, which is devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and he should not engage himself in anything other than Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. One must engage all one’s purified senses in the service of the Lord. This is the favorable execution of Kṛṣṇa conscious activities.

COMMENT

We should not worship demigods. We should not disrespect them, but at the same time, we should not worship them. Once in Madras, Srila Prabhupada was invited to some Indian gentleman’s home for the inauguration of the man’s temple room. Many people were invited for the ceremony, and the temple room was quite small. The whole room was filled with Srila Prabhupada and the other guests. Srila Prabhupada’s disciples were standing outside the room. The deity was Lord Shiva, and all of the guests were given flower petals to throw on the deity. All the devotee outside the room were looking very carefully to see what Srila Prabhupada was doing. Srila Prabhupada threw the petals in the corner. Then, when all the guests came out of the room, then the devotees went in and they saw in the corner of the room a small deity of Krishna. Srila Prabhupada kept the principle.

TEXT 169

ei ‘śuddha-bhakti’ — ihā haite ‘premā’ haya
pañcarātre, bhāgavate ei lakṣaṇa kaya

TRANSLATION

“These activities are called śuddha-bhakti, pure devotional service. If one renders such pure devotional service, he develops his original love for Kṛṣṇa in due course of time. In Vedic literatures like the Pañcarātras and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, these symptoms are described.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada:

One has to develop his devotional service under the directions of a pure devotee, the spiritual master, and in accordance with the Vedic directions given in the Pañcarātra and Bhāgavata systems. The Pañcarātra system includes methods of temple worship, and the Bhāgavata system includes the spreading of Kṛṣṇa conscious philosophy through the recitation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the discussion of philosophy with people who are interested. Through discussion, one can create an interest and understanding of the Pañcarātra and Bhāgavata systems.

COMMENT

So, devotional service proceeds like a train on two tracks. One track is temple worship, and the other track is chanting and hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In order for the neophyte devotee to make proper progress, he needs to proceed on both tracks. Otherwise, the train will be derailed and fall down. And when we preach also, we should speak about both; pañcarātrika-mārga, which means the path of deity worship, and bhāgavata-mārga, which means the preaching of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So, both should be there.

So, we will end now. Are there Any comments or questions?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:11:25]

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada said that we have no business saving only to avoid criticism. But if nobody is looking, you can say Hare Krishna and we can go on with our Krishna conscious activities.

Devotee: How do you reconcile this with the saying that the Vaishnava is para-duhkha-duhkhi? Is he happy to see the sufferings of people, and he is a good-hearted person by nature, big-hearted?

Giriraj Swami: He quotes one verse by Raghunatha dasa Gosvami written about Sanatana Gosvami, para-dukha-dukhi, that the Vaishnava feels unhappy in the unhappiness of others. But what is the solution for the unhappiness? Do you think that if you save the drowning man he is going to be happy? Do you think he was happy before he was drowning? We have to understand that no one in the material world is happy. One can be happy only in Krishna consciousness. So, if we want people to be happy, we should give them Krishna consciousness. Sanatana Gosvami, he is the example of para-duhkha-duhkhi. And what are the symptoms of someone who is para-duhkha-duhkhi? He wants to give people Krishna consciousness. Sanatana Gosvami would go to the home of some vrajavāsīs and he would say, “Can you give me some water?” Does he want water? No. He wants to engage them in devotional service. He would go and say, “I have heard that your daughter was recently married. How is she?” Or he would say, “I heard that your father is not well, that he is suffering from some illness. So, you should tell him to chant Hare Krishna.” He makes so many efforts just to engage people in devotional service.

This is the symptom of para-duhkha-duhkhi. He makes efforts not only to help the non-devotees but also to help the devotees also. Therefore, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami fells so obliged to Sanatana Gosvami. Therefore he writes, “Vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasam prayatnair, that bhakti with vairāgya is like a medicine. But I was not willing to take that medicine. By great endeavors, Sanatana Gosvami made me drink that medicine.” It is like a child who doesn’t want to take medicine, but the parent knows that the child must take the medicine. So, he thinks of so many ways by which he can induce the child to take the medicine. Here the medicine is vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasam, bhakti with vairāgya. Raga means attachment. So, vairāgya means without attachment, no material attachment. But raga can also mean spiritual attachment. And thereby raga means a special attachment or extreme attachment. Sanatana Gosvami helped Raghunatha dasa Gosvami to develop a strong attachment to Krishna consciousness, which made him automatically detached from material things.

Sanatana Gosvami was staying at Vrindavan. Every day he used to come to Govardhana Hill and do parikramā of Govardhana Hill. Why? Did he need to do parikramā of Govardhana Hill for himself? No, he did it for the sake of others, to show people the way to engage in devotional service. Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is thinking, Actually, he didn’t come for the sake of all others. Especially, he came for me, to encourage me. And Sanatana Gosvami always used to visit Raghunatha dasa Gosvami at Radha-kunda. Sometimes he saw that Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was doing hari-nāma, and two tigers came to drink water from Radha-kunda. He thought that Raghunatha dasa Gosvami could be attacked by the tigers. Raghunatha dasa Gosvami would do bhajana in the heat of the sun. So, Sanatana Gosvami said that, “You should not do bhajana in the open sky. You should accept some little hut.” Sanatana Gosvami himself made a hut for Raghunatha dasa Gosvami so that he would not be exposed to so many dangers and difficulties. So, he could do his bhajana to Krishna.

These are the symptoms of para-duhkha-duhkhi. He was living in Vrindavan and coming so many miles from Vrindavan daily just to see Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and encourage him. This is para-duhkha-duhkhi; how to engage the non-devotees in devotional service and to help the devotees who are already engaged in devotional service to make further progress.

Srila Prabhupada also was most compassionate. Once we were riding together in the car in Madras, and he saw a long line of people waiting for the bus. They had to stand in line for such a long time and wait. He actually commented on it, and tears were in his eyes. He had so much compassion. But does it mean that he wrote a letter that they should have more buses in Madras? No, it means he became more determined, although he was already determined, he became more determined that, “I must help the suffering souls by giving them Krishna consciousness and taking them back to Godhead.”

Devotee: But this point is very important. Sometimes the philosophy of karma can make people have hard hearts like iron heart. But everybody is suffering according to his karma. Kamsa told to Devaki, “Don’t worry, actually I have not killed him, this is karma.” Even in the history of the Radha-Mohan temple making, Sanatana Gosvami said [Unintelligible 01:25:40]

Giriraj Swami: The goal was that the man should become Krishna conscious. If the man is drowning, we can save him. Actually, we don’t say that you should not save him. But when you save him, the next step should be to try to engage him in Krishna consciousness.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:26:25]

Giriraj Swami: There was one devotee named Vasudeva who had leprosy, and so many worms were living in his sores and eating. If any worm that fell from his body, he would immediately pick it up and put it back. So Vaishnavas are so compassionate, so soft-hearted. We cannot imagine from our position.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:28:15]

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada said if anyone is worshipping any form of Vishnu, we should not disturb them but we should let them worship the form they are worshipping. Vallabhacharya himself, although he began with the worship of Balakrishna, later wanted to worship Radha-Krishna. And although he was already initiated into the worship of Balakrishna, but he took further initiation from the Gadadhara Pandit. So, if someone is open to actually understand the position of Krishna in relationship through other incarnations, then we can tell them. But if they are staunch worshippers of Rama, Vishnu, or Srimati, then we should just let them continue their worship.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol.